She laughed. “Not one bit.”
“It was my grandfather’s property. He left it to my mom when he passed, but she’d always hated it out there in the sticks, so she sold it to me. She’s down in Florida with her new husband. Well, not so new. They’ve been married almost ten years.”
“You never talk about your family,” she said.
“Nothing to tell.”
“I’m sure there’s plenty to tell, so I want to hear about them the next time we’re together. It will give us something to talk about.”
He wrapped a wavy strand of hair around one finger and leaned closer. “The last thing I’ll want to do when we see each other again is talk.”
He kissed her to give her a small sample of what he had in mind.
When they separated, she said, “You really don’t make this easy on a girl.”
Once her bags were checked, he followed her to the security checkpoint, knowing they wouldn’t let him through without a ticket. He considered buying one just so he could sit beside her until she boarded.
“As much as I want you to stay here with me, I know you have a long drive ahead of you. You need to go.”
“I know.” He pressed his forehead against hers, one hand resting on her cheek to commit the texture of her skin to memory, his other hand clinging to her fingers. “I’ve never been good at goodbyes.”
“This isn’t goodbye. This is until next time.”
She kissed him, soft lips lingering on his for a long moment that felt much too short, and then she slowly pulled away. He held onto her hand as she backed up, forcing his feet to stay rooted to the spot. When their fingertips separated, a lump settled in his belly, but he let her go. He did watch until she made her way through the X-ray machine and disappeared from sight.
Yep, he sucked at goodbyes. “Until next time,” he whispered under his breath as he turned away.
*****
The drive to New Orleans was unbearably long. Kellen reminisced about the amazing weekend he’d shared with Dawn and tried not to worry that she’d be too busy to see him again anytime soon. He had every other weekend off—thanks to Jacob’s visitations with Julie—and there were these inventions called airplanes. He’d be sure to make good use of them. The two of them just had to coordinate schedules, that was all. And once the summer was over, he’d be off tour and in the studio recording Sole Regret’s next album—assuming that Adam starting writing songs soon. But his time would be much less restricted than it was for the next several months. He hoped Dawn was okay with him following her around, because he planned to make a genuine nuisance of himself.
The sun was already setting when he reached the Louisiana border. The guys were going to be beyond pissed with him if he was late. Hell, he’d be pissed with himself. He’d needed just one more kiss before he let Dawn go through airport security. He’d needed something to keep her with him for as long as possible.
An incoming call made his heart leap. Had Dawn landed already? He smiled when he saw it was Owen calling. He suddenly missed the guy terribly. They hadn’t spoken much that weekend. A brief call or text seeking advice about Caitlyn and their apparent breakup—temporary, Kellen was sure—but otherwise, silence.
“Glad you called. I was getting really bored,” Kellen said.
“How far out are you?”
Owen sounded as desperate for company as Kellen felt. The drive from New Orleans to Galveston with Dawn beside him had flown by. The return trip to New Orleans alone seemed to be taking eons. And as much as he enjoyed listening to his personal virtuoso play the piano, listening to the classical music on the radio was a total snorefest. He was surprised he hadn’t yet nodded off and driven into a ditch.
“I got a late start this morning,” he said. “If traffic cooperates, I should get there about an hour before we go onstage.”
“Oh.”
Yeah, the guy definitely needed a sounding board. Maybe Caitlyn’s dumping Owen had been more hurtful and permanent than Kellen had suspected.
“How are you holding up?” he asked. “I know what you’re like after a chick dumps you.”
“She didn’t dump me. At least I don’t think she did. I’m not sure. She’s none too happy about Lindsey living with me.”
Wait, what? When had that happened? Kellen really was out of Owen’s loop.
“Lindsey is living with you? I thought Mom was going to take her in.” At least that had been the last plan he’d heard.
“She tried. My parents were going to rent the apartment to her.”
The one over their garage. “That’s a nice place.” He’d have suggested it if he’d thought of it. It hadn’t occurred to him until that moment that it might be vacant since its usual renters were college students who took off for the summer months.
“Was a nice place. Lindsey had a huge asthma attack. Apparently there’s mold in the bathroom, so everything has to be ripped out and redone.”
“That sucks. So she’s just staying with you until the bathroom is finished.”
“God, I hope so. It’s nice to have someone to cook me breakfast, but Caitlyn was none too pleased when she overheard Lindsey calling me to eat this morning.”
Kellen shook his head. “You didn’t tell her about Lindsey? So she caught you.”
“I didn’t have the chance to tell her. She wasn’t talking to me, and then when she finally answered my eight millionth call, Lindsey had completely slipped my mind.”
Typical Owen. Kellen couldn’t help but laugh at him. “Well, you know how you could have avoided the entire situation,” Kellen said, surprised Owen hadn’t mucked up things even worse without Kellen there to interject his advice any time his friend needed it, which happened to be quite often.
“How?”
“Told her up front that Lindsey was living with you and not tried to hide it.”
“I wasn’t trying to hide it. Lindsey wasn’t staying at my place when I’d last spoken with Caitlyn. Circumstances changed.”
“So you really want to make this thing with Caitlyn work?”
Kellen liked Caitlyn, so he wasn’t sure why the idea of Owen committing himself to her settled oddly on his stomach. Maybe he just needed a taquito and some cranberry orange juice.
“I do.”
Kellen spotted a sign for a gas station. Perfect timing. Apparently he was starving. “Whatever makes you happy. I’m stopping for gas now. I’ll see you when I get into New Orleans.”
“Okay,” Owen said.
Several hours later, Owen called back. And thank heavens. Kellen had been sitting on the freeway, inching his way through some accident scene for well over an hour now.